Scoring Points for the Afterlife

This is something that I have been thinking about for a long time. It is something that I frequently encounter on the streets by Christians and non-Christians alike. Personally, I find it frightening that non-Christians think this way and even more frightened that Christians think this way too. What I am talking about is the idea that somehow we can work our way to Heaven. The thought that if we can do enough good things, they will somehow outweigh or cancel out the bad, horrible things that we have done here in our time on Earth.

I generally find that strong, mature Christians do not buy into this as much. However, it needs to be pointed out that this belief is completely false. It does not matter how many good things you do, you are still guilty. I think that part of the reason this is the case is because our culture in inundated with this thinking.

Take a portion from Weird Al's parody "Amish Paradise" for example. Read the lyrics below and you'll see what I mean.

Hitchin' up the buggy, churnin' lots of butter
Raised the barn on Monday, soon I'll raise another
Think you're really righteous? Think you're pure in heart?
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art
I'm the pious guy the little Amlettes wanna be like
On my knees day and night scorin' points for the afterlife
So don't be vain and don't be whiny
Or else, my brother, I might have to get medieval on your hiney

This song (although a parody) is a secular take at Christian life (albeit Amish) and this portion of quoted lyric is an example of how secular non-Christian people view salvation in Christ.

Paul addresses this clearly for us in Ephesians 2:8-9 where he writes, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

When Paul is speaking of works in verse 9 he is specifically talking about the Jewish customs that one performed in service to God. Paul is writing the church at Ephesus so they know that they haven't been enabled to go to Heaven because they have completed certain religious achievements but because Christ's substitutionary death on the cross atoned for their sins. Just like Christ's death atoned for the sins of the Ephesians, it atones for our sins as well, today.

Christ will judge both the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5) and the judgment is based on your standing with Him. Are you reconciled to Him or not? Are you forgiven of your sin or not? Are you adopted by the Father or not? Has your sin been removed from your account or not? Is your rap sheet clean or not?

To continue the thought of being judged consider this: You are standing before Christ, the judge, in His court of law. He has all the evidence you could ever want: eyewitness testimony, pictures, video, audio, he knows your thoughts and your heart while you did everything sinful. There is no question, you are guilty of the sin you have committed. You are about to be sentenced, the gavel is about to be slammed down but you object. You say, "Well, what if I can do more good things that will outweigh all of the crimes that I have been charged with?" Do you realize what you are doing? You are bribing the judge with your "good works."

You cannot bribe the judge (especially a judge who is completely good, righteous, just and will not compromise his ways)! If you bribe the judge it usually means you get thrown into prison quicker! This is all assuming that you could somehow outweigh the bad with good deeds.

This is why non-believers are hopelessly lost. If you are reading this and you aren't a Christian and you have thought this way, you need to realize your error. Your crimes aren't going to be erased because you set out to do "good things," not here on Earth and not later when you will be judged for those things.

So how can you stand before a Holy God and have any hope to enter into Heaven? You have to have your rap sheet wiped clean. You need to have your sins pardoned. You need to take your case to the cross.

God says that he "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) God doesn't want his favorite creation to suffer an eternal death in Hell, separated from Him. He instead wants us to turn away from our sin and turn towards Him. God wants us to stop loving our sin, and start loving Himself. That is what repentance is.

Turn away from what is hindering you from following and loving God supremely and "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

The afterlife isn't based on "points" or a "grade." It is pass or fail.

Pro Bull Riding

Yesterday was my first time at a Professional Bull Riding event. I have to say from what I saw, I liked it and I'd like to go back another time. I wasn't sure what I was going to see, but the Honda Center was packed out with people and bulls!

SWAT got their own section in the nosebleeds. Soon after the PBR name got lit on the ground (which was awesome) Brad and I went outside to help out with tickets and getting people with vouchers separated from regular ticket holders, it was a mess! After that we headed back up and my buddy Josh was there looking discontent. He had some issues with the small seating and the usher people kept moving him around much to his dislike.

Josh ended up going outside to cool down and one of the usher people was nice enough to find an open area for us to sit in another section downstairs. Josh comes inside and we grab some food and go sit in the section assigned to us. To my shagrin we end up in a section right by one of my friends! So we ended up talking for a while and I met their cousin who goes to CBU and is on the wrestling team. Hopefully I'll get to see that guy more.

Afterwords the follow-up was discombobulated. Maybe that was because the headset that I had on never actually worked. The entire night. At least I looked semi important, (just kidding). But the Gospel went out and people responded so our investment into this event was not useless. I'm glad about that.

I was

Ventures and Adventures

This past month has been crazy, crazy. So many things have happened to me this month. Honestly, I don't think I have been as busy as I am now at any point in my entire life. But I like what I'm busy with (for the most part) so I don't have much to complain about.

Since my last competent blog post I am:

1. Going to California Baptist University now
This was a huge undertaking for me. For a long time I had been praying and seeking where the Lord would have me to go. I wasn't sure if I should go to APU, Biola or CBU and finally the Lord opened the door, pressed the issue on my heart and there you go! I am majoring in Christian Studies and am currently doing the night program.
2. Still Working with my Dad
Not much to say here, except business as usual. I am blessed to only have to work 3 days a week, but I still am having difficulty finding free time (like now) to do things.
3. Still Serving in Activate (High School Ministry)
I am still serving in the High School ministry at Harvest, not a whole lot has changed except we did have an awesome camp earlier this month. That was a blessing, getting to know more kids, have fun with them and show them God's word. Always a blessing.
4.Stepped Down from the James 1:27 ministry
I was involved with this ministry for about 6 months and it was a good opportunity to develop/flex my teaching gifts. Once a month (sometimes twice) I would get to teach at a convalescent home to about 15-30 old people on Sundays. It was a blessing in many ways, an eye opener in others. But ultimately, I had to step down because of new opportunities the Lord put on my plate.
5. I am now leading Saturday night witnessing
I am very excited to see how the Lord can use me in this ministry. It has been a real need that our ministry has been lacking for over 5 months since we have transitioned into our new buildings. I'm glad the Lord has put it on my heart, even though at times I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of teaching these kids I am confident that where the Lord guides, He provides.

Yay!

SWAT Video

So I've been learning this new program in school and on my own time called Adobe After Effects. The program itself is great, I think I'm even beginning to like it more than photoshop!

Anyways, I was playin around with it last night and came up with this logo thingy for SWAT. Noone asked me to do it and I don't expect for it to go anywhere but I made it for my personal enjoyment...and I suppose you can enjoy it to. If you want.



Also, the music is arbitrary. Got it from YouTube.

Prayer & Share

The Leaders of the High School Ministry (and the Well) have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the Prayer & Share program that equips Christian leaders with the ability to effectively counsel biblical principles into others' lives. Well at least I know for sure I have been blessed so far, just by being included.

Earlier today we had our first meeting in the new chapter 2 children's ministry building. I was pretty surprised they were equipping us with a binder and two sweet books by Jay E. Adams for free! It was equally "sweet" that Pastor John Collins, John Douthitt and even James MacDonald from Chicago addressed us this morning.

I'm excited about our first homework, reading an entire book! Snap! I thought it was going to be hard but I'm on chapter 5 as we speak. :)

I can't wait to see how the Lord will grow me through this course.

Leadership Christmas Dinner

So every year the high school ministry puts on a Christmas dinner for either the high schoolers or the leadership. This year due to booking issues it was only the leadership. It is definitely refreshing to fellowship with my co-laborers in Christ without dealing with the joys that come with serving.

The food was good, the fellowship was fun, the worship was sweet and the devotion was awesome. The gift exchange was also done differently this year, there wasn't really any stealing. Last year during my turn to pick the gift I prayed and the Lord led me to a grip of re-writable CDs, DVDs and a Joshua Harris book. Score! Then this year during the gift picking I prayed again! Then when it arrived in my hand the Lord confirmed it and I opened my gift of a Spider-man bank! YES! Double Score!! The Lord hooked me up and he gets all the credit! Thank you Jesus!

Also, during the message Jason Powell quoted a short story that I really thought it was cool. So here it is here:

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. Source.

Our God is good!

From Chaos to Order

It's been said numerous time that Chaos cannot turn into Order. That's false. Let me explain.

Friday night witnessing started out like any other Friday night. On a side note, yesterday was Billy Graham's 90th birthday - I thought going witnessing was a cool way of celebrating it. Anyways, nothing unusual was happening up to this point. Actually I will mention that group selection was kind of weird I noticed. I had Josh and Brennten in my group; just thought that was odd. But the night continues...

The groups felt weird to me, then we left for the Plaza off of Central ave. Most of the car groups had arrived when that pesky little truck with the lights on top drove by our congregation and of course; stopped. Kenny was talking with the security guy and I noticed he was talking for way too long. I knew this wasn't good. Long conversation short, we got the boot so we decided to roll over to Tyler to salvage the rest of the night.

Earlier, everyone had been arriving late because of supposed traffic on the 215 and 91. So with that considered we jump on the 91 fwy and blast towards Tyler avenue to hit up the Galleria. Everything's going good so far, my car was jammin to some Ambassador when we pass Van Buren ave and hit dead traffic. Noooooooooo! So this is like 7-10mph traffic. I'm bummed at this point. First we get kicked out, now a grip of traffic. I figured we're all going to be sitting in the Barnes and Noble parking lot waiting for everyone to show up. So we continue creeping along forever and to my just to see a car smash his brakes and get rear ended! My jaw dropped and everyone in my car exclaimed at what just happened. So we mergy merged and found ourselves in the parking lot waiting.

So my group members were actually there fairly quickly so we grouped up and prayed. As a side note, we did get the Day7 fliers to each other before we left Harvest so that worked out. So after we prayed we wander inside, the girls and Brentenn had to use the restroom. Then we walked up the stairs and towards the other end of the mall. We get upstairs and noone has gotten in conversation yet. Personally, I was feeling kind of exasperated. Then Brentenn calls me out and said what I was thinking and told me to lead my flock! I smiled and said, "Okay!" Right then, on the top floor near JC Penny, these two guys were about to cross our path so me and Brentoni hit em up.

Turns out that one of them is the son of a missionary of Cambodia. That same guy, his name is Travis, his dad is the pastor of a church.. in his house! They have a small church that meets and they study the Bible together. I asked his friend where he goes to church he pointed to his friend and said, "his house." I laughed, I thought that was so cool. So I keep probing these kids to see where they're at with the Lord by asking different questions. I had discerned from the beginning that these guys were Christians. I could see it in their eyes. Discernment is one of the gifts the Lord has blessed me with; I can look into someone's eyes and I can recognize if they have the Holy Spirit or not. So at this point in the conversation I just started to encourage them. These guys were solid Christians too, it is such a blessing to run into those kinds every once and while. I encouraged them to find out specifically where God is calling them. This is something I've been agonizing over, so I had a lot of insight to give them based on some of the things that I've read. So I prayed with them, told them I'd see them in Heaven again and we could catch up on all the work that we've done for the Lord then. So they walked away with joy on their faces and in their hearts into JC Penny.

Afterwords, Brentoni and I were basking in the conversation we had. It was such a refreshing conversation. But consider this, after all of the crazy things that happened: the time to set up groups/cars, the time to drive to the plaza, the time spent talking to that security guard, the time driving on the 91, the time sitting in traffic on the 91, the time grouping up all the way until the time we spent walking upstairs - we met these guys and talked to them about Jesus. That's so cool!! All of a sudden everything we labored through earlier made sense.

The only way Chaos can be turned into Order, is through an intelligence. Only God can turn our Chaos into Order. Amen.

Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend I was in New York with the SWAT team. New York is a very cool place to visit, especially if you are a fan of American media. There you get to really experience the melting pot that makes New York city what it is.

While I was there I experienced a lot of things, felt a lot of emotions and thought a lot of thoughts but something really was amiss. For me, this wasn't the best SWAT trip I've had. Maybe my heart or mind was in the wrong place. There is a lot going on within me that I've been thinking about. I have a lot I need to give to God still.

There's so much that I want to do, so much I want to become. What do I want to become? Just a man of God and anything else secondary will do. I tend to be critical of a lot of things, especially myself. I pick myself apart and see that I don't know enough scripture, I'm not well versed enough. I don't generally know generic facts that I believe I should know being where I am in my walk. I understand I'm not perfect but I want to continually strive to be better. I'm reminded of Philippians 3:12-13

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead."

There's things about me that I'm not content with that I need to change. Lord, conform me to your son's image.

New York Approacheth

October 16th-21st I will be in New York city with the SWAT team sharing the gospel. I had the pleasure to go last year also. The city surpassed my expectations, I fell in love with the city. I had some of the best conversations I've ever had as a Christian. The people were a bit calloused but that level of callousness was always shown to be covering a thicker layer of pain.

This trip we will be venturing outside of Manhattan and tackling some of the boroughs of New York like the Bronx, Queens or Brooklyn. That will be very interesting in and of itself. So I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm putting my trust in the Lord's promises that he will get me through the length of the trip. My prayer is that through this SWAT trip I would experience exponential growth.

Also, if you want to stay updated on what I'm doing in New York check out my Twitter.

Witnessing: Friday Night

Friday Night Witnessing with SWAT is happening!

Here's the point: You need to come out. I get to lead it again and I'm stoked! I'm preparing the devotional as I type this, but please come out I need to man/woman power!

This week we will learn how to EXPLAIN the gospel.

The Plate is Full

So I have a lot on my plate right now. There are a lot of things happening throughout my week and some things that are upcoming that I need to make some decisions and changes that will impact my future. Things like work, finances, school, swat new york and my immediate/long-term future.

Work has gotten to a place where it has become somewhat of a burden. It's not my co-workers, but the job itself. I work in sales so my paycheck is directly related to how well I can perform. These past weeks have been bad for whatever reason and my paychecks have been hurting. I'm no lover of money, but I understand its practical need. I'm beginning to realize just how much financial pressure I'm under right now. I also look at the economy and how it's hurting right now and I wonder if I should just be content that I have a job during this time. But I'm ready for change. I'm ready to leave this job behind and pursue something else.

School always has a way of avalanching on you. You sleep in on accident one time and everything is on top of you. I don't plan to be going to Chaffey much longer, at least if I have anything to say about it. I just have to endure for a little while longer.

I also have a pretty hefty payment left for SWAT New York. I was blessed by my Grandma who gave me the money to pay 90% of the trip off, but I needed money to live off at the time. I didn't go on any spending sprees but I didn't make all of the best financial decisions you could make. I knew I was going to have to supplement the payment, but I should have been a little more careful about it, so now I'm hurting a bit. But thats okay, because I need to learn these things. I just pray that the Lord will show mercy to me.

The best part of the plate is this part. I think I have some sort of direction I want to take, one that the Lord has made fairly evident and has confirmed it at least once. Bible College. I haven't really told anyone about it, but have been seeking the Lord and seeking Godly counsel as well. I also have an appointment at Chaffey with a counselor to discuss options to transfer to a Bible College or seminary tommorow afternoon. I am also thinking of using the resources available at CBU, although not sure if I have to be a student or not. Not sure exactly what I'll do with what I'll get out of a Bible college, but the Lord has a funny way of showing us just one part of the plan at a time.